


A Miracle We’re Together

by Ravenclaw_Witch



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A few non canon characters with semi important roles sorry about that, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chat Noir Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Lady Noir, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Kwami Swap, Ladybug Adrien Agreste | Mister Bug, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, life swap au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29936673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenclaw_Witch/pseuds/Ravenclaw_Witch
Summary: “They’re a good fit, I know it,” Fu answered as pulled out the Miraculous of the Ladybug and the Miraculous of the Black Cat. “That girl lept into danger to protect me, without a second thought.” “The perfect Black Cat.”“And the boy?”“He tried helping that girl and he didn’t even know her.” “A little more self-confidence and he’ll be a good Ladybug.”———Marinette, the daughter of Gabriel Agreste, leads a life of grace but distance from most that might be involved in her life and wishing to be around kids her own age. Between sneaking out of the house to go to school and receiving the black cat miraculous her life is quickly changing.Adrien has always been out and about, the son of Tom and Sabine he has been having a life around others. However getting the ladybug miraculous is a giant step for him and attention that he wasn’t used to.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfic on here. Yay! I’m hoping everyone enjoys it! And please if you have any suggestions tell me.

Marinette wasn’t planning to sneak out. She assumed that when her father said no, she would just accept that as she always did. She’d just been so frustrated when he hadn’t even stopped to consider it that in a rare moment of stubbornness she snuck, well more accurately ran out.

And now here she was. Not only had she considered sneaking out, but she’d done it, and by some miracle for now at least she had avoided being found so far. Running off toward the school that she had wanted to attend much.

She went right, then left and then right again. Her phone would have been helpful in this case, but she didn’t want Nathalie to find her before she even attended.

‘Almost there’ she thought, seeing the school off in the distance. And of course an elderly man collapsed in the road. She swore she was a bad luck magnet. It didn’t matter that this was going to delay her though, or possibly bring unwanted attention to her. She immediately ran towards him. She reached out and grabbed the man’s arm. Then with an adrenaline induce boost of strength, she pulled him out of the road.

“Are you okay sir,” she asked, hoping to hurry away. She was growing well aware of the attention that this had brought and wanted to make it to school for at least a little while. She could see the news report now, “Daughter of Gabriel Agreste In Public for the First Time since Mother’s death.” Or maybe, “Prodigy Fashion Designer and Daughter of Gabriel Agreste saves Man from Death.”

The man nodded with a smile, “I’m fine, and thank you, miss.” With that response, she took off, running towards the school, forgetting all of her normal poise.

———

Adrien was heading to school early. Mostly because of nerves keeping him awake all night. Today was the first day of a new school year and if experience had taught him anything, that meant disaster. Yet another year seeing Chloe, who even he was struggling to deal with, and teachers always highlighted his patience as a major skill. Though on the bright side, he had Nino in his class for the first time in a long while.

He crossed the street and headed to the front of Francois Dupont College. That at the current moment only had a few people in it, the perfect opportunity to get in and maybe greet the others.

He waved to several of his classmates that he saw with friendly greetings such as “hey,” or “how was the summer?” And that was when he noticed a student he hadn’t noticed before, a girl with raven hair arguing with an adult, maybe her mother. He wasn’t sure, but he approached anyway.

“You know your father wants what’s best for you,” the woman said.

“I… I know, I just wanted to meet some people my age.”

“Maybe you can next year, but this, it’s too soon.”

The girl sighed sadly, “yeah… I know, I know.”

Adrien looked at the pair and something just felt off about it to him. “It seems like she wants to go to school,” he stopped trying to figure out his words properly. “I just think she should… be allowed to make her choice, right?”

The woman looked at him, “I’m afraid this is her father’s decision, and he told her no.”

“Well, that doesn’t seem very fair,” Adrien replied, voice fading off.

The woman turned away, “Marinette, we need to be going.”

The girl, no Marinette, nodded to him with a small smile, “thanks for trying,” she said. Then she sat down at the open spot in the back of the car and they drove off.

———

“Master, are you certain on this choice, you didn’t even try a test,” Wayzz tried to point out.

“They’re a good fit, I know it,” Fu answered as pulled out the Miraculous of the Ladybug and the Miraculous of the Black Cat. “That girl lept into danger to protect me, without a second thought.” “The perfect Black Cat.” 

“And the boy?”

“He tried helping that girl and he didn’t even know her.” “A little more self-confidence and he’ll be a good Ladybug.”

Wayzz was uncertain about the choice but still followed Master Fu as he went to put the most powerful miraculous out into the world.

———

She would have thought her father would have at least been there to comment on how she had disappointed him, but no, instead it was just her heading back to her room. 

“Marinette,” she paused turning back at Nathalie’s voice, “I won’t mention this to your father but I expect your best behavior from this point forward.”

She sighed, “I know, I’ll be in my room.”

Up in her room, Marinette laid down on the couch. And opened up her Chinese homework, only vaguely paying attention to the news in the background. That was until she heard the mention of a supervillain. “Wait what,” she fumbled trying to sit up. She had heard it correctly, a super villain. The information made no sense and somehow even in this her attention caught on something, a small intricate box beside the tv. 

Half paying attention, she opened up the box and out from it came a little black creature. Startled, she screamed out a short, “ah,” as it immediately zoomed through the room searching for something to eat.

“Why, is there a… a cat-mouse thing in here?” She moved to trap the thing, grabbing a decorative vase of flowers, considering chucking them but deciding that would go poorly and instead putting it over the creature. “What are you?”

The creature phased through the vase immediately, much to her surprise. “Plagg, Kwami of destruction,” he replied dryly, “here to help you fight the supervillain.” 

“Wait, what?” Marinette stared at him slowly, getting her nerves under control. Her father would not want to see her reacting in this way.

He sighed, of course he would have to explain everything.

———

Not that it was surprising to him, but school had been rough. Chloe was a jerk to everyone like usual, but he had ignored her and now it was time for lunch. He waved to his mom as he entered, promising to tell her all about his day after he got up to his room. And that was when he saw the strange box. “What’s this?” 

He reached out to open the box, and in a flash of red light a creature emerged. “Hello,” she greeted in a sweet voice, “are you my new holder.”

Adrien stared at her confused, “what… what do you mean?”

She stared up at him, “I’m Tikki, the Kwami of Creation, I’m here to help you save Stoneheart.”

“Stoneheart, wait what?”

“The supervillain,” she clicked on a tv remote, opening up the news to a broadcast that sure enough confirmed what she was saying.

“What am I supposed to do,” he asked.

“I’ll explain everything.”

———

And so came the second least sensible idea of Marinettes day, actually listening to the Kwami. So far that had led to her escaping out her window disguised as some sort of superhero and a sudden massive amount of relief that her father had always focused on becoming more graceful. Otherwise, she could only imagine how embarrassing this would be.

Extending out the baton that came with her costume, she headed through the city, attempting to avoid being noticed. She couldn’t imagine what people would say if they saw her. 

It didn’t help though as eventually someone pointed her out, and from there another person took pictures and she quickly took off. She would have thought a supervillain would convince these people not to focus on this.

Soon after, during a much stealthier attempt, a blur of red swung past her, back and forth until eventually a boy landed in front of her.

“Hey, I thought I was getting close.”

Marinette stared, “close to what?”

“You’re my partner right?” “Tikki mentioned someone and you fit the description.”

‘Right a partner,’ she thought, staring at him but nodding, anyway. “I am.”

“Great, I’m Mister Bug.”

She couldn’t help it, the name was just too bizarre, so she laughed. 

“I know, it’s not great I’m working on it.” He looked a little more awkwardly down at the ground. In a maneuver that even she could tell was to change the topic he asked, “so have you found the supervillain.”

Marinette pointed towards the most destroyed part of the city, the most obvious answer, though she couldn’t say with certainty. “I’d bet that way.”

The other superhero grinned for a moment, “what a purr-fect sign.”

Marinette sighed in a disappointed way but didn’t reply, instead just extending her baton out to move. Taking that chance to focus more on making sure that she didn’t seem too terrified. She wasn’t used to the looks she got as she moved through the city, nor was she certain about this superhero thing yet.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien finally go to fight their first akuma
> 
> Basically part two chapter one. I may be combining them at a later time but for now I’ll keep them separate as to avoid confusion.

Adrien had been hoping that he and his partner would immediately click. After all, they needed to work together well if they were going to fight the… akuma. That was what Tikki had called it, right? 

Plus, he’d always gotten along really well with his classmates, with the exclusion of Chloe. ‘They’d just met,’ he encouraged himself; he was sure they could talk more later, and maybe that would make them closer. 

He saw Stoneheart climbing into the stadium and called out to his partner. “Down there,” he yelled, pointing down to the akuma. Then he threw the Yo-Yo so that it would allow him to land on the side of the stadium to give him a better and safer view of the situation. He overshot the landing a little but twisted back to land properly almost simultaneously with his partner. Sure enough, they were correct. Down below was Stoneheart.

“So do you have a plan,” she asked, pulling his focus away.

“Not… yet.” “I don’t even completely...” He gestured with his hands trying to explain it, trying to put a spin on it that wasn’t completely embarrassing, “I don’t have the purr-fect plan yet?” 

“Really,” she asked, avoiding that small chuckle that nearly came out in response, admittedly in someways it relieved some of her nerves over this. “We’re in the middle of a catastrophe and you’re making puns about my miraculous.” He broke out into a smile at her comment causing her to realize what had happened “... And yes, I noticed I just made one too,” she added. 

“Still counting it as enjoying them.”

“No, it doesn’t.” “Do you have any idea how to deal with this,” she asked, changing the topic.

“Smash the object, purify the… akuma thing that comes out, and use powers to do that properly?” He recognized he didn’t sound super confident when he said that, though, and immediately tried to move further into the topic to not seem completely discouraging. “Even if we don’t know yet, we have to try our best, right?” After gauging a slight nod in agreement from his partner, he continued. “Now come on, we need to help fix this.” After that he swung down to the ground right behind Stoneheart, assuming his partner would be behind him. 

Quickly he ran to attack the akuma, hitting it with his Yo-Yo in hopes to find a weakness. Each time he hit, he dodged to the side to avoid being hurt. This focus though kept his attention away from a very important detail whenever he hit Stoneheart it just caused him to grow larger.

Eventually, though, he noticed something that brought him out of the trance of fighting, a pair of figures in his peripheral vision. And that was when he realized he had made a mistake. He hadn’t noticed there were other people down there. Worse, he knew these people, two of his classmates, Alya and Kim, the latter of which was quickly pulling Stoneheart’s attention to him and away from the superhero.

Adrien flung his Yo-Yo at the akuma again to pull its attention back to him. It wasn’t helping though, for the time being Stoneheart was so single-mindedly focused on getting Kim that he couldn’t shift attention away. Worse, there was very little chance of Kim outrunning him. Already Stoneheart was getting closer and closer to his classmate.

———

Marinette stared down at the ground, in part just to terror and indecision. She didn’t know how to deal with it; last time she had checked her list of plans did not include becoming a superhero. And that problem was a massive struggle for her. 

In fact, she probably wouldn’t have gone anywhere if she hadn’t noticed the pair of would be classmates and Stoneheart chasing one of them. She didn’t even think about her actions when she jumped down and pushed Kim out of the way of one of Stoneheart’s fists.

“Get out of here,” she said to Kim, voice seeming entirely unconcerned even as she worried about what mistake she was going to make. Then when Stoneheart moved to hit her she dodged out of the way, eyes landing on her partner, Mister Bug… if he was still sticking with that after her response. “Draw his attention.”

Marinette wanted to say no, she really did. Instead, though, she nodded and ran to hit the akuma with her staff. Though she noticed quickly that her attack was causing the akuma to grow, mostly because of a vague familiarity with fencing. It did its job though, bringing Stoneheart’s attention to her. 

In the background she could hear her partner calling out “Lucky Charm,” his ability she’d assume. She watched as some bright spotted object landed in his hands. And watched in amazement as an object landed in his hands. She couldn’t tell what it was from her distance.

———

Adrien rushed towards his partner, holding out the object, a lengthy roll of what seemed to be fabric. “We need to trap him… I think.” “Your power, would it help?” 

She looked over the field then nodded, “I’ve got an idea,” she said muttering out the word “Cataclysm.” Immediately her hand had some sort of destructive energy surrounding it. Then she took off to side of the stadium, and onto a raised platform.

Adrien recognizing what to do followed her, watching as Stoneheart rushed after them too. Then he swung overhead, twisting around Stoneheart and using his speed to wrap the fabric around his head like an oversized blindfold, doing exactly what one would assume with that metaphor. Blinding him.

Unable to stop his charge across the stage, Stoneheart was at risk of colliding with her. Adrien almost ran to help her. But then, only a few seconds before Stoneheart would have trampled her, she touched her hand to the ground, and it slowly fell apart in the radius surrounding where she touched it. And Stoneheart stepped right in that spot and became trapped in it.

Adrien grinned, feeling more nervous oddly enough now that Stoneheart was trapped… he was blaming the slow decrease of adrenaline.

———

Marinette was exhausted after using her Cataclysm ability but shakily paid attention, after all her partner seemed to do just fine after using his ability.

“Can I borrow that,” he asked, pointing to her staff. Though it took her a few seconds to respond, she nodded, holding it out in surprisingly steady hands given how she was feeling.

“Of course,” she said, watching as he used it to pry open Stoneheart’s hand. Then seeming completely normal to anyone who might watch, rather than exhausted and filled to the brim with anxiety, she walked over and crushed the rock under her foot.

Adrien reacted quickly, using his Yo-Yo to catch the akuma on only the third attempt. A neat surprise, given how poorly he had missed on the first two attempts had been. Beside him, Stoneheart slowly faded away, revealing a kid in his place. 

Another would be classmate? She honestly wasn’t sure and in this moment she didn’t have enough dedication to reach out, instead vaguely staying to the side in a way that kind of seemed unconcerned, a definite improvement from how she was feeling.

In the background she heard her partner yell out another phrase and as everything slowly pieced itself back together. 

“Pound it,” she heard him ask from beside her and held up her hand, not completely certain.

He looked thrilled and almost said something else when his earrings beeped. “I’m going to take that as a warning that I should leave,” he realized a little disappointed. “I guess I’ll see you again later than,” he said, taking off quickly, leaving Marinette and a very excited reporter. 

“You’re a superhero, aren’t you,” she heard the girl say in an excited tone. 

Marinette managed a nod in response. She was used to people obsessing over her so-called celebrity from her father, but this was a whole new level of strange.

“I saw you using your power, that was incredible!” “What’s your name?”

Marinette paused uncertainly. Then she thought of her partner’s costume and took inspiration. “Lady Noir.” She heard the beeping of her ring just in time to avoid another question, “I’m sorry, I’ve got to go,” she said, taking off quickly.

———

Marinette arrived in her room with just enough time to finish her Chinese homework… if that was what they should call it. She really did most of her work at home, anyway. As she wrote it, she opened up her computer and saw a new page trending, a video of the battle. 

She opened up a tab and watched it quietly, glad to see that she didn’t look completely clueless as she fought. As the battle reeled to the end, she heard the girl talk. “I also managed to get a brief interview with one of the heroes who has referred to herself as Lady Noir,” she said, running more of the footage. “I have begun calling her partner The Spotted Beetle, however we never received and official name from him.”

Marinette looked at the computer, laughing. She was pretty sure they couldn’t have gotten much further from the name he had given earlier while still staying in the bug themed category. She heard from behind her the disgruntled sound from the kwami, “are you not even going to feed this poor kwami,” he asked in a dramatic tone.

She nodded, “right, of course,” and headed to go figure out what she could feed him. 

And that was when she ran into Nathalie, holding up a video call with her father on it. “I have been considering your wish to go to school and have decided that it is for the best.” Marinette stared at him unsurprised when the word however came. “Nathalie will give you every rule that goes along with this, and the new schedule.” 

She nodded, somewhere between thrilled and disappointed that like everything it seemed to come with new directions for her to follow.

——— 

Adrien meanwhile headed back to school, a small piece of him proud to hear the others talking about how great he, or rather The Spotted Beetle since apparently Alya had created a name along with the video, had been.

He chose a seat quietly, plugging in headphones despite being in class and opening up the video. He wanted to see everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to note that from here on out I’m probably going to makeup the Akumas to avoid completely copying the main series.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette goes to school for the first time, but in the middle of the day they’re faced with another akuma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearly divided this chapter like the last one but remembered I ended up regretting it so here’s a kind of lengthy new chapter.

Marinette sat in the back of the car, tapping her fingers against her leg to release some of her nervous energy about the coming day without everyone commenting on it. Honestly, she’d be pacing if she were not in a car and so intent on not embarrassing herself. At least she could take this energy as evidence of something, though. That she was right. She wanted to go to school, and that was a happy realization. 

It was the first time that she could remember she would be at school with actual classmates rather than just tutors. No, she couldn’t say she hadn’t been around kids her own age. There was Chloe and a few that she ran into at events, and once when she was little that she had been at some sort of school. Her parents pulled her out, though. Unsuitable company or something, she guessed.

She frowned, not exactly happy to realize she was criticizing her parents’ decisions. She replaced that with a smile, as though she had moved on from the idea. Instead of focusing on the past and whatever her father’s reasons were, she instead focused on the outside. Right outside she could see them pulling in front of the school.

As soon as the car stopped, completely mind you. She did not want a lecture about how she was doing something stupid or embarrassing herself. She exited… and immediately tripped over the curb. In a quick reflex to the near collapse, she grabbed the edge of the door quickly stopping herself. Standing a little taller, hoping it would relieve any concerns or judgement over this, she walked toward the building. Now, though she more intensely focused on not embarrassing herself, certain the others would criticize her over this misstep, mostly based on teen dramas she had seen on television. Besides, she imagined, Plagg would laugh about it too when he heard about that embarrassment.

———

Adrien woke up to his light being turned on by his mom. “Adrien,” she said, pulling him further awake. Within a few seconds he knew that this was definitely later than he normally woke up. 

“Am I late for school,” he asked, sitting up quickly to grab his phone.

“Not yet, I just realized I hadn’t heard your alarm or seen you, so I wanted to make sure you were up.” 

“Thanks mom,” he said sincerely. “I really need to set that tonight.” 

“Just make sure you’re up.” “Don’t want to be late on the second day.”

He nodded again, pulling out his phone and setting an alarm in it. After that, he got ready. Putting on clothes for the day and grabbing his things. “Tikki,” he called, making sure the kwami knew they were going. 

“Yes,” she asked, zooming around the room to land in one of his pockets.

“I was going to grab you something to eat, do you like macaroons?”

“Macaroons, of course,” she said in a thrilled voice, causing Adrien to smile. 

“Come on then,” he said, pulling open the hatch and heading downstairs. Entering the kitchen, he grabbed a quick granola bar for breakfast, not having time for an actual one.

As soon as he reached the actual bakery, he heard his dad call to him, “I packed some macaroons for you to bring to your friends.”

“Thanks dad,” Adrien said, immediately caught in a giant hug.

“Now have a great day at school.”

Adrien nodded, “of course I will. I’ll be back at lunch.” Then waving to them, he ran outside and went to the school.

———

Marinette headed to Miss Bustier’s classroom and chose a seat from the empty ones, which was all of them at the moment. Then she opened up her sketchbook and took the time by herself to work on some more of her designs. It was always a good way to pass time. Plus, she always loved when her father looked through them, occasionally complimenting the composure of one of her pieces, or even putting them out with one of the larger collections.

The project had been such a distraction she didn’t even notice as the others came into the room in a bit of disarray, admittedly as her position had forced a few people to move around. A girl eventually sat down next to her, looking over her shoulder. “Kind of reminds me of The Spotted Beetle,” she said.

“Wha-what,” Marinette asked, not immediately associated the name with her partner. She was still calling him Mister Bug, since that was the name he’d given her. Plus, it matched really well with her hero name, even if she had found it funny originally.

“The superhero, yesterday there was this villain. Did you not hear about it?”

“Oh… right. Yeah, I remember hearing about it.” She frowned, looking at the sketch, embarrassed to see that the outfit had seemed to have taken inspiration from the red and spots of her partner. Looking up at the girl she immediately recognized her, “you’re that girl, the one that posted the video, right?” 

“Yeah, Alya Ces-,” she was cut off by an angry comment from a girl towards the front that Marinette immediately recognized.

“Nino, you’re sitting in my spot.”

“Um… sorry, I well, everyone kind of got moved around. She was sitting in my spot and Alya was sitting in Adrien’s, and I didn’t see a problem moving around a little.”

Chloe turned around to find the source of this irritation, only to spot Marinette and shift emotions on the spot. “Oh, Marinette, I didn’t know Mr. Agreste had enrolled you in school. That’s great, I’ve been meaning to see you more, and this is the perfect opportunity.”

Marinette paused, keeping herself from immediately responding to avoid a rude comment, though she couldn’t help but feel frustrated with her. That behavior wasn’t correct. She was just about to give the nicest answer she could think of when Miss Bustier walked in, effectively stopping any comment from her, “now if everyone could take their I’d like to start class.”

Marinette nodded, watching as Chloe eventually relinquished her spot and sat down in another row at the front, Sabrina sitting next to her as always.

———

Adrien ran into the school officially late, so much so that he didn’t even try running to class. That was bound to get him in more trouble.

Instead, he walked to class, going to go sit in his spot only to realize that Alya was sitting there. Moving backwards a few steps, he realized Nino had moved to the front. It wouldn’t have been weird had it not been where Chloe sat on a normal day. 

“What happened,” he asked Nino. 

Nino quietly pointed behind him to where Marinette was sitting, “Mari- something after that I didn’t quite hear her name, sat in my seat and Alya sat next to her. So we moved.”

Adrien turned finally to see her, “I thought she wasn’t able to come.”

“You know her then, dude, please tell me you actually know her name. I can’t explain this again with that description.”

Adrien frowned, wondering if her name had been mentioned, and he hadn’t caught it. “Sorry Nino, I saw her yesterday when we getting to school don’t really know much about her,”

———

Marinette left class with Alya when it had ended for lunch. “I’m Marinette, by the way.”

“Alya.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” she replied, falling back on an automatic response.

Alya gave a small laugh at the comment just as the pair of the boys caught up to them.

“So you managed to come,” one of them asked, the one from yesterday, though she had never gotten a name.

“Yeah, my father decided it would be good for me to have some experiences with school… or something like that.”

He seemed excited for her so quickly that she could tell it was genuine, “well I’m glad, you seemed like you really wanted to come.” “I don’t think we… ever got introduced,” he paused for a few seconds. “I’m Adrien.” 

“Marinette,” she said as she continued walking, and with that the group continued walking, unaware of an argument across town that would lead to a new akumatization.

———

When Adrien was disappointed when he opened his phone to see the news of a new villain going through the street of Paris. That was until he realized he would get to see his partner again. That completely made up for the disappointment he had originally felt.

“I’ve… got to go,” he said, trying to explain in a way that involved a lot of saying ‘um’ and ‘you know,’ before he eventually said, “I left my homework in Miss Bustier’s class,” and took off running before anyone could ask questions.

Then he ran to the classroom that was thankfully empty and opened his pocket where Tikki was staying. “There’s an akuma,” he said, holding up his phone to show her. “The Sorceress, or something along those lines, there isn’t much information.”

“We should get going then,” she said, which was enough encouragement for him.

“Tikki, spots on,” he called out.

———

Marinette stayed with the others, not believing Adrien completely but not caring enough to ask questions on it. Besides, even if she had focused on it, she wouldn’t have had long to think about it as within a few minutes Alya gained a thrilled expression and held out a notification on her phone. “There’s another villain,” she said, way happier about it than someone should be.

Marinette froze at that comment. She needed to go. 

Luckily for her, Alya spoke again, “come on we should go film it,” she said, and it gave Marinette the perfect chance to make an excuse in weird way

“I can’t, I need to make sure my father knows that I’m safe. I don’t want him pulling me out of school because I’m not where Nathalie can keep an eye on me.” “Go on without me,” she added, and with that she took off vaguely hearing Nino mention he would go with her.

Running into a bathroom, she let Plagg out of her purse. “Alya mentioned a villain.” Then after that vague description she spoke up, “Plagg, claws out!”

———

Adrien swung through Paris, heading to the location that he had recognized from the picture, a nearby park. He hadn’t seen Lady Noir yet, but he kept his eye out for her. He’d rather fight with a partner than without her.

Landing on a nearby building, he watched vaguely, seeing a figure in the distance, a woman resembling some sort of enchantress, or Sorceress he supposed based on the name that he had gotten earlier from the article. That didn’t give him much else to go off of though, so jumping into the battle might be risky.

“So what do we know about her,” Lady Noir asked, pulling him out of those thoughts. She was getting better at sneaking around, even with just one short time frame to practice. Which would be scary if he weren’t certain that she was a good person. A lot to say about a person in one day, but he agreed with it.

“I’m summing it up to basically she goes by the Sorceress, otherwise I have no clue.” He pointed towards where she was currently at. “She’s just sort of floating out there.” 

She frowned, trying to gather any information, “I guess we’ll have to figure out on the fly then.”

Adrien laughed, “you sure you’re not purposely doing that,” he asked, extending his Yo-Yo and swinging, causing her comments of what he assumed was of course not to become lost in the wind as he landed down near the akuma, who immediately turned around.

“I’ve been told I need to retrieve your miraculouses,” Sorceress said, still not moving just yet. 

“And we need to fix this,” Adrien said, swinging his Yo-Yo at the akuma. She raised her right hand, a slight glow coming off of it. Or rather the bracelet she had on it, and a field of energy surrounded her, causing the Yo-Yo to bounce off harmlessly.

The akuma immediately flew to attack him with a blast of energy, forcing him to dodge quickly out of the way, the blast disintegrating a tree that it came into contact with. Definitely not an encouraging sight.

———

Marinette landed near her partner, more focused on his comment about the pun than she should have been. She wasn’t even sure they could consider it a pun; it wasn’t like she planned it out.

“Watch out,” she heard her partner call out. She twisted to see what he meant. She noticed it immediately, a blast of energy was hurtling towards her. This moment definitely made her thankful for faster reflexes, as she dodged out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit by the akuma.

“Thanks,” she called out, a kind of strange comment mid battle in her opinion, but she was glad he’d helped her. “Any ideas on the object?”

“There’s a bracelet, maybe. It seemed to be the source of her…” he paused, dodging out of the way of another blast. “… powers so it being the object wouldn’t be a stretch.” He frowned, calling out, “lucky charm,” only for a giant shiny metal sheet landed in his hands, of course designed red with numerous black spots.

She nodded, studying the area maybe there was some way to get around that. And then something interesting happened. When she shot a blast at a massive office building, it reflected right back at her. Looking closer it didn’t take long to realize why, the windows were tinted, almost reflective, and for some unknown reason it seemed to interfere with her powers.

———

Adrien was struggling to figure out how exactly to use the metal sheet. Throw it at her? Build something? Create a trap? He was trying to figure it out. In hindsight being distracted in a battle, not a good plan or action at least.

He was pushed down to the ground quickly as a blast of energy flowed past him.

“Sorry,” Lady Noir said. “It was a reflex.” Holding out a hand, she helped pull him up off the ground. “What was your lucky charm?”

Adrien reached out quickly, grabbing the sheet of metal and holding it up. “Seriously, this thing is massive,” he said, staring at it with a laugh.

“Back there… she shot at this building and it reflected off. So maybe…”

“Maybe we can use it to our advantage. When we tried to attack earlier, it bounced off. Maybe if it reflected back at her, though, she wouldn’t be able to stop it?”

Lady Noir nodded, “let’s try,” she said. He grabbed the sheet of metal and ran towards the akuma, hitting her with the Yo-Yo again to get her attention. 

The akuma locked her attention onto him almost immediately, though it helped Lady Noir had moved out of view entirely. He wasn’t entirely sure where she’d gone either. As soon as she got the chance to attack, she shot another one of her energy blasts at him. Immediately raised up the metal sheet, avoiding the impulse to dodge out of the way. And surprisingly enough it worked. Her shield, at least temporarily, was destroyed. And with that, he took off to help destroy the bracelet.

From behind the akuma, Lady Noir ran out or rather leaped out to attack the akuma. She grabbed the bracelet and when removing it proved too difficult; she muttered a phrase. No doubt cataclysm and watched as the bracelet fell apart at her touch. “Catch the Akuma,” she called out, though he was already on it, throwing out his Yo-Yo to catch the dark purple butterfly. As this happened, the akuma faded away, leaving in its place a teenage girl.

Then he threw the lucky charm up in the air, proving to be a kind of difficult task given that it was a giant sheet of metal, but he managed it, calling out “miraculous ladybug,” as he did, then everything seemed to put itself back together.

———

“Are you alright,” Marinette asked, holding out a hand to the girl who sort of nodded and clasped it pulling herself up.

“Fine, what happened?”

“You were akumatized, it’s fine now though. Mister Bug and I fixed it.” She smiled a little, trying to seem helpful.

“I thought… never mind. Thanks for the help,” she muttered.

Marinette frowned, watching as a pair of adults ran towards her with a flurry of ‘I’m so sorry’ comments. 

A small piece of her wanted to ask what had happened, but Mister Bug landed next to her before she could ask. “Pound it,” he asked.

She nodded, happy to see him finally back over here. Holding her fist up to respond to the friendly gesture that she had gathered was going to become a sort of tradition for them. “Pound it.” “By the way you may want to clarify your name,” she said with a laugh, “they seem to have taken to calling you The Spotted Beetle.”

“Yeah… I noticed that,” he paused about to comment something else when his earrings beeped, “another time my lady,” he said in what she assumed was a joke and swung away. 

She took that moment to take off too, waving to the family. She really didn’t want to have all of their focus on her over this, or worse, to become the one everyone automatically talks too.

———

When he got home that night, Adrien felt terrible. He’d completely forgotten about his promise to eat lunch with his parents and they seemed concerned that he handed immediately come home. Worse was that after that he lied to them, claiming he had lunch with his friends, then he had to make up things just to tell them about it over dinner. 

“I’m going to go to bed,” he said as soon as he finished dinner.

“Of course,” his mom nodded, “just make sure to set that alarm.”

“I will,” he said with a laugh as he went up the stairs and then into his room, giving Tikki one of the macaroons, which she gladly took. He paused, “I feel horrible lying to them,” he whispered.

“It’s for their own safety Adrien, could you imagine involving them in this?”

He nodded, “that would be worse.”

“Besides, Lady Noir couldn’t help bring down the akumas without you.”

“I don’t know about that, Lady Noir is amazing.” “She saved me today, and helped figure out the lucky charm, and she made a pun.” 

Tikki smiled at her holder, “you know she said the pun was an accident.”

“Come on two times,” he laughed. “No, she just likes them, I’m sure of it.”

———

Mallory was weirdly at ease with the whole akumatization thing this morning. Not only was she at ease with it though, she was thrilled. Here everyone had said she was being childish. Believing in fairytales or magic. And that she needed to let it go. She probably would have too. But then today happened and now she knew it was out there and she could have it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should clarify, in part because I feel bad making a non-canon character any sort of major role, that the reason I’m putting Mallory in for another Akuma later was because originally I had another plan for the plot but felt it was to early to put it in. Anyways hopes that clears it up and removes any disappointment in having a villain who didn’t actually exist.


End file.
